296/365: National Boston Cream Pie Day*

Once you’ve finished pahking the cah at Hahvahd Yahd, settle in for a slice of today’s tasty treat. October 23 is National Boston Cream Pie Day!

It’s also National Canning Day. I’m not sure whether that means you’re supposed to can something today, or eat something that you’ve canned. I had a slice of toast with huckleberry jam I canned myself, so technically both food holidays are in the books today.

Many good things come from Boston. Cheers, the Red Sox, the original Tea Party – and the official dessert of Massachusetts, Boston Cream Pie (which is actually a cake and not a pie). It consists of two layers of spongecake filled with vanilla custard and topped with a chocolate glaze. It may also contain powdered sugar and a cherry, if your chef or bakery is particularly flamboyant. Boston Cream Pie was created by chef M. Sanzian at the Parker House Hotel in 1856, when they first opened for business. The Parker House was the first hotel in Boston to feature hot and cold running water, an elevator, and a French chef with an initial for a first name. It’s also where Parker House soft dinner rolls were invented. This place has history! The dessert was originally called a Chocolate Cream Pie and, alternatively, a Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie. But it’s still not a pie, folks!! It is believed that the first Boston Cream Pie was baked in a pie tin, which at the time were more common than cake pans, and because it was cut into wedges, was called a pie. On December 12, 1996, a civics class from Norton High School broke into raucous celebration when the bill they sponsored – declaring Boston Cream Pie the official state dessert – was passed into law, beating out other candidates which included toll house cookies and Indian pudding.

Unlike most of the food holidays we’ve celebrated this year, we’re taking today’s a little less literally (try saying that 5 times fast). Yoplait makes a Boston cream pie-flavored yogurt that actually does taste like the real thing. We figure, repurposing some of these foods makes for a more interesting interpretation. For instance, on National Almond Day, we added slivered almonds to a chicken teriyaki dish. Doesn’t get much more creative than that! Call it creative, call it lazy, whatever…today, we called it breakfast!